Council sees naked profit at first nude beach

BALL games and sack races are being planned for the official opening of South Africa’s first legal nude beach, which could take place in just six weeks.

On Tuesday, Hibiscus Coast municipality councillors gave the go-ahead for a beach bordering the Mpenjati Nature Reserve — about an hour south of Durban — to become a nude beach.

The municipality decided the economic spin-offs and tourism potential outweighed the concerns expressed by those opposing the nude beach.

And it seems the tourist potential is about to materialise as “bus loads” of naturists plan to make their way there.

The municipality granted ap- proval pending the final goahead from Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife because of the proximity of the beach to the reserve.

Naturists from Gauteng are planning trips to the South Coast and some have made inquiries about buying property in the area.

“For 20 years we have been fighting to get an official naturist beach, and now we’ve got one,” said Athol Lutge, chairman of the South African National Naturists’ Association.

“There are already bus loads of people wanting to come down from Gauteng. We are going to do everything we can to make sure it gets going with a bang, because the Hibiscus Coast has put a lot of faith in us that it will help the economy and with job creation. We want to make this work,” he said.

But not everyone supports the beach. DA member Doug Rawlins was one of only eight of the municipality’s 45 councillors to vote against the beach at Tuesday’s meeting. He said he did so “on moral grounds”.

“Beaches are public spaces,” said Rawlins.

The IFP’s Christopher Dlamini said the party was “totally against” the nude beach.

❛ We are going to do all we can to make sure it gets going with a bang

“As the IFP, we believe in morality. In [the IFP] constitution the first rule is that you respect the humanity of others,” said Dlamini.

He was also worried about the possibility of crime.

“There are women who sell their bodies, and they will go straight there now,” he said.

The naturists’ association wants to officially open the beach in six weeks’ time.

“We are hoping to launch on the December 14 because it’s World Naturists Day. There’s a lot happening at Sandy Bay [an unofficial nude beach in Cape Town] that’s been arranged — there will be volleyball, soccer, lots of sack races and other things that will be happening. We want to do exactly the same at Mpenjati Beach,” said Lutge.